Elon Musk's company Neuralink plans to connect people's brains to the internet by next year using a procedure he claims will be as safe and easy as LASIK eye surgery

Elon Musk on Tuesday announced in a
livestream that his neurotechnology startup, Neuralink,
hoped to begin implanting devices into human brains as early as
next year.

Musk has invested $100 million into the secretive
company since its founding in 2016, according to
The New York Times, and he says he hopes it will achieve
"symbiosis with artificial intelligence."

Musk said the Neuralink system would allow for a tiny
chip, known as a brain-machine interface, to be implanted into
the minds of willing subjects.

The chip would be designed to stimulate the brain's
neurons using tiny flexible threads of electrodes that would be
inserted into the brain in a procedure Musk said would be as
safe and painless as LASIK eye surgery.

But some experts have called Musk's vision "science
fiction" and say Neuralink's long-term goals may be
unrealistic.

Elon Musk on Tuesday announced in a
livestream that his neurotechnology startup, Neuralink, hoped
to begin implanting devices into human brains as early as next
year.

"We hope to have this aspirationally in a human patient before
the end of next year," Musk said at a press conference on
Tuesday, where he gave updates on the progress of the system. "So
this is not far."

Musk has invested $100 million into the secretive company since
its founding in 2016, according to
The New York Times. Neuralink has brought together some of
the world's leading neuroscientists to its home base at a
laboratory at the University of California at Davis.

Musk said the Neuralink system would allow for a tiny chip -
referred to as a brain-machine interface - to be implanted into
the brains of willing subjects and would allow humans to achieve
"symbiosis with artificial intelligence."

Small chips, measuring roughly 4 mm by 4 mm, would be designed to
stimulate neurons ⁠- or nerve cells in the human brain that
communicate with other cells⁠ - using tiny flexible threads of
electrodes. Each electrode thread would be inserted using a
precision robot in a procedure Musk said would be as safe and
painless as LASIK eye surgery.

"It's not like a major operation - it's sort of equivalent to a
LASIK type of thing," he said.

Musk acknowledged the futuristic system would take time to gain
approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

He said the system could be used to treat brain disorders, like
Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease, and ultimately could
"preserve and enhance" brain function. He said Neuralink chips
would be 1,000 times as effective as other electrode-stimulating
systems out there.

Max Hodak, Neuralink's president, added that the system would be
wireless and would last "years to decades."

While some have lauded Musk's attempts to create the next
generation of brain-computer connection,
experts say the hype surrounding the complex system may not
be justified just yet.

Philipp Heiler, a physician who founded Neurofeedback Neuroboost,
told Business Insider last year that such systems came with risks
including brain damage, inflammation, and scarring.

"You have to ask yourself what the advantage is over other
interfaces like touchscreens or language assistants like Alexa,"
Heiler said.

Thomas Stieglitz from the Department of Biomedical
Microtechnology at the University of Freiburg in Germany told
Business Insider last year that Neuralink's stated long-term
goals sounded too good to be true.

"I believe Neuralink's long-term goals are unrealistic, or at
least it's dubious to phrase them in such a way," Stieglitz said.

"Unless all this is clear, it's simply not possible to upload
knowledge somewhere else then upload it back into the brain.
While it might make for great science fiction, in reality it's
just hokum."